Render Me Mortal
by heartfelt-utilitybelt
Summary: DetectiveAU: Natasha's a ruthless homicide detective who has the highest case closure in NY, and Steve's the best major case detective NYPD has ever seen. Ben Parker's death brings the two together, with Ben's smart-but-obnoxious teenage nephew, Peter. The originally simple murder turns to a dangerous, spiraling mystery- will the trio escape the tangled web of deception alive?


My first Avengers fic-a detective AU. This may or may not have Winter Soldier and/or Amazing Spider-Man 2 spoilers; I will re-warn in the beginning of the chapter if there is any for either. _Eventual_ Steve/Natasha, emphasis on the eventual- tension-ish in the beginning, past/unrequited Clint/Natasha, Pepperony, slight whisper of Coulson/Hill, Bruce/Betty, and Thor/Sif (past Thor/Jane).

So. I'm going to be uncharacteristically brief. I'm not going to do a mailbox because it gets difficult when I get a lot of reviews, so any questions can be PM'ed or emailed. Basically I've just been unhappy with the amount of good fanfictions including Peter Parker, and I recently found out that Stark Tower is located in lower Manhattan, specifically Midtown. So, my dearest Spidey fans, where is it that Pete lives? Bingo!- Midtown. Obviously I get that they can't just have Spider-Man popping in during the Avengers like "hey guys, what did I miss?" (though that is a statement that would probably come out of his surprising-large-for-a-teenage-nerd mouth). So I fantasize about it in my writing.

I know I didn't mention the other Avengers in the summary, but they are in this, and are very important. I also may or may not have some Sam Wilson cameos. I repeat-this is an AU, detective style. No one has their powers. Steve is just a muscular sort of guy who hasn't taken a 70 year nap with a bunch of ice, though I can't help but make him a little old-fashioned and technology-phobic. Natasha doesn't have the Red Room in her past, or any Russian spy sort of business, even if she is spy-like (you can't expect me to completely butcher their characters). Clint simply likes to arch once in a while. Tony does not run amuck in an iron suit. Bruce does not have explosive, destructive, green anger issues. Thor is not some mighty god-like person from a different realm, and happens not to be over a century old. And Peter does not scale walls and sling from building to building in his free time.

Natasha and Clint are homicide detectives. Steve is a major case detective. Thor is a narcotics detective. Pepper is a crime scene investigation forensic scientist, and Tony is her larger-than-life boyfriend who happens to own a huge business that donates to the precinct from time to time. Bruce is a tech forensics expert. Trust me when I say I know what I'm talking about; I've watched my fair share of Castle *AHEM*Everyepisode*AHEM*, and I've done a ton of research. I know death and injuries better than the back of my hand. There's not going to be any stupid injuries that people miraculously survive from only in stories, and when I say that someone died because of high levels of whatever in their blood or the window of death is from this time to this time based on lividity and area, you better believe that could happen in real life. Honestly, I hate ridiculously fake stories.

Anyway. This was totally supposed to be brief. Lastly, I am a beta, so I've never really had the urge to get one for myself. They would have to be pretty darn good, and I can think of few people that I know, so that's not happening until I'm desperate. So be prepared for mistakes running ramped, and truthfully while I would like them to be corrected, telling me isn't going to change anything, because they'll just be new mistakes.

Crime Scene AU: Natasha's a ruthless homicide detective who has the highest case closure count in the state, and Steve's the best major case squad detective NYPD has ever seen. The death of Ben Parker brings the unlikely pair together, as well as Ben's smart-but-obnoxious teenage nephew, Peter. Soon, the originally simple murder ends up to be a dangerous, spiraling mystery that might just be the toughest case the two have ever encountered. Will the trio escape the tangled web of deception alive?

* * *

Natasha stood in front of the white erase board, looking intensely at the pictures posted on it. Her partner joined her, staying silent for a moment. "It was a dead end." he said firmly.

She gazed unchangingly at the board. "There's something that we're missing Barton. There's someone else involved in this."

"Who?" Clint asked, and Natasha didn't say anything. People killed for a reason. It was always easier to find the motive first, but where was the motive? Nobody would have wanted to kill the victim.

"Are you sure Pepper or Betty didn't find anything else?" Natasha asked. Usually Pepper and Betty, the precinct's forensic investigators were good at spotting things quickly, but there was always the chance that they missed something.

Clint shook his head. "Maybe it's what they didn't find." Natasha suggested.

Clint's eyes lit up and he looked at his partner. "They said there were no defensive wounds."

"It was someone she knew." Natasha realized. But _who_? Their victim, Jessica, was a well liked financial worker with no real huge ties.

Natasha froze. _Except for one._

* * *

Her eyebrows narrowed slightly, boring into his eyes. The short, vibrant red curls of hair and deep green irises were misleading; as gorgeous as she was, she could kill the man in front of her in 10 different ways nearly without touching him. "You were so angry at her- she was your wife, after all. You were so angry that you couldn't think, just for a moment, and a moment later she was dead in front of you. Isn't that right?" She whispered, leaning close.

Barton watched from behind the double sided mirror as the man before her faltered, and crumbled.

"And there's our full confession." Coulson murmured, eying the recording equipment.

Hill put a nonchalant elbow on her partner's shoulder. With her 5 inch black high heels that she loved wearing, she was just above Coulson's height, and loved to poke him about it. "She's amazing." She complimented fondly.

Barton couldn't help but nod with a bit of pride. She really was amazing, and she was _his_ partner. Romanoff collected her files papers and got up from the table, looking scornfully down at their now murderer one last time before leaving the room. "How'd I do?"

"You always impress." Hill said.

Barton was a pretty dang good homicide detective- he closed a case only when he was absolutely sure that they had the right person, and wouldn't stop looking until they did find the true murderer. His mindset was spectacular, and the only one who topped him was his own partner, Romanoff.

Coulson shooed Hill off, and Hill gave him a teasing smile. It was unusual for two people to share the homicide detective captain job, but Coulson and Hill made a good team. Hill was smart, smooth, and rebellious, while Coulson was serious and secretive, and somehow their polar ends completed the job just right.

"You two can take the rest of the night off." Coulson said, taking the case file from Romanoff. "You can do the paperwork in the morning."

And generous. Coulson was also generous.

"I won't say no to that." Barton said with a smile. He turned to Natasha, hope in his eyes. "Want to grab something to eat?"

Her eyes faltered for a moment, looking down, and he immediately knew it was a no. "Ah, maybe next time Barton. I'm going to hit the sack." She was elusive, secretive, reclusive- she had been like that from ever since they met, resembling water, always hard to catch. She slipped on a thin, dark jacket. "See you Barton."

"Bye Tash."

* * *

"My favorite part of being a cop." Clint said sarcastically, clicking the bottom of his pen of his desk. He sighed and plopped down in his seat, back to back with Natasha's, ruffling the back of his trademark leather jacket.

She chuckled and nodded, handing him half of the stack of papers in front of her. "Well, pleasure's all yours."

The morning sun shone through the precinct windows gleamingly; as dark as the work that they did was, the precinct still held happy memories of happy people with relatively normal lives. Natasha could easily remember her first time in the precinct 3 years ago- no amount of murder cases or somber days could change that day. Barton had been her partner for every day of those three years, and she refused to work with anyone else, even when he was on a leave. They were loyal to each other, almost trusting, but Natasha didn't like that word. If there was one thing she had learned in life, it was that you could never be too careful. But even so, they were partners, and just the acceptance of the title was good enough for both of them.

The two worked dutifully on their paperwork; it was almost as necessary as it was tedious unfortunately, but it wasn't anything they weren't used to. Every case had some sort of crazy, exciting beginning and a surprising, unexpected ending, but they could always count on the paperwork they had to do afterwards to stay the same.

"Romanoff, Director Fury wants you in his office."

Natasha furrowed her eyebrows and looked up to her side, Coulson standing at the side of the desk and waiting. Fury? As in the Chief of Detectives Fury? As in the-most-powerful man in the precinct building Fury? "I'm sorry Coulson, could you say that again?"

Coulson gave her a knowing half smile. "Any idea why he might want you?"

"No idea." Natasha said. She got up from her chair and Clint followed suit.

"Ah, Barton- Fury wants her alone." Coulson said, and Clint tilted his head. In the three years that they had worked together, one was never called without the other. Coulson shrugged.

Natasha patted Clint on the shoulder. "Don't have too much fun without me." She followed Coulson to the elevator, going up a few floors. There were quite a few precincts in the building, and Director Fury certainly didn't have his office on any of the precinct floors.

They stepped out as the doors opened and Coulson came to an office, opening the door for her. She stepped in, and he closed the door behind her. "Morning Director."

"'Morning Officer Romanoff." Fury nodded. For some mysterious reason, every time she had ever seen him, he was wearing the same long black trench coat. It only added to the intimidating effect his eye patch gave.

There was also another man in the room standing next to her. Natasha eyed the other officer discretely- she had seen him before; he was vaguely familiar. He had a kind of unforgettable face, with blonde hair and hard, bright blue eyes.

"Captain Rodgers Officer Romanoff." Fury said, peering at the two. He was a captain? Now that Fury said his name, she remembered Pepper fantasizing about him, but she had no idea he was a captain.

"Officer, Director." Rodgers corrected. Ok then.

Fury shrugged, clasping his hand. "You two have quite the accomplishments."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "You called us here to praise us?" She said, hinting with sarcasm.

Fury gave her a look. "I've got a case. The death of Ben Parker."

"Uh, Director... I'm a major case squad detective. I don't do homicides." Rodgers pointed out. Major case detectives did robbery, larceny, kidnappings- why was he here?

Fury handed a manila case file to each of them from his mahogany desk. "Now you do. This is an extremely important case. Besides, this case includes a small robbery."

"Do tell." Natasha said, flipping through the file.

"Ben's nephew, Peter, saw him get shot." Fury stated bluntly. To her right, Rodgers tightened slightly, and she felt a pinch of sympathy. "Ballistics came back; he was already dead before he was shot."

"How is that possible? Then what killed him?" She asked, looking up.

"Well that's not my job to answer Detective. It's yours." Something was wrong- why was Fury giving them the file? Why not Coulson and Hill?

"With all due respect Director-" The red-head started. "I can do this with my partner, Officer Barton. While I'm sure Rodgers is good at his job, he's not on homicide."

"And I also have a larceny case that I'm in the middle of." Rodgers added.

Fury focused the both of them in the eye. "Make it work. You two are the best detectives NYPD has, and this case is killing officers. We need something new, because apparently what we were doing wasn't working."

"Excuse me?" Rodgers asked, slightly shocked.

"The two officers who were on this case, Officer Rumlow and Officer Rollins, were found murdered last night, and we don't have a single lead. " Fury said, sighing."I need you two to find that lead that no one else can."

Rodgers looked up, a cautious but determined face on. "I'll do it."

Romanoff refused to meet the blonde's eyes. Barton was her partner and her only partner. He brought her to the force when everyone else didn't think she was worth a second look. But she thought of the family of the victim- she's seen the sorrow on their faces so many times that she couldn't count. She's broken the news to see raw emotion, the wet faces and hollow eyes. She's seen the blind anger for the killer. She's felt the thirst to find the person who caused all of it, but she couldn't help the strong reluctance to work with someone else. She sighed- she had to put her personal feelings aside, for the sake of the case. "So will I."

Fury shooed them away. "Then what the hell are you still doing here?"

Romanoff and Rodgers stared to awkwardly shuffle out of the room, and Fury spoke again. "Oh, and officers; this case stays between only the people involved." Romanoff nodded and made a brisk beeline for the elevator. "I don't think we've ever met. Steve Rodgers." Rodgers introduced, trying to keep up.

She didn't give him a chance to hold his hand out. "Natasha Romanoff." she said plainly, slipping into the beige elevator room. He paused before following her bobbing scarlet hair. "I know you're new to this, but try to keep up." She continued as they reached their floor.

Steve nodded, keeping his thoughts to himself- she did know he was still a cop, right? Still, he respected her; he was going into her territory unwanted. But he was going to be unaccustomed to taking orders so directly. "So, where are your thoughts on what to do first?"

"We need to read the file completely- neither of us know the whole story." She instructed. They passed by her desk, and Clint watched confusedly, standing up. "What's going on Natasha? Hill said you're working on a new case."

She frowned as she turned to him, hoping this wasn't going to be some huge news throughout the precinct. It was going to be a _quick_, _easy_ case, and before she knew it, everything would be back to normal. "It's nothing Clint." she tried to pass off. "Fury just asked me to do this one case with him-" she jerked her thumb in Steve's direction. "-and I'm going to be back before you get a chance to celebrate that I'm gone."

Clint smiled wryly. "Don't worry, I won't celebrate."

She nodded at her partner, and Steve beckoned her, leading her to his desk. His desk was almost too neat; there was a small, organized pile of files in the corner, and a little cup of pens and pencils adjacent to it. There was also an extra desk next to his, completely empty. "Was that your partner?" Steve asked, trying to break the stiff silence.

Natasha simply nodded, slipping into the seat next to him. "I don't have a partner." He said after a few moments, and she had to restrain herself from making a rude remark about the painstakingly obvious fact. "So I see." Immediately she immersed herself in the file, skipping a few pages; she wasn't exactly feeling up for small talk. Steve's glance lingered on her for a second before following suit.

"Ben Parker, 54, resident of Midtown, had left his house at approximately 8:45 PM looking for his nephew, Peter Parker. They had an argument in the house, and Peter left to cool off. The two were out for about an hour before crossing paths with each other. An assailant with long blonde hair and sunglasses who had just robbed a pharmacy across the street ran into Ben and shot him close range in the stomach before running off. Someone nearby who heard the gunshot called the ambulance, and the paramedics pronounced him 'dead on- "

Natasha's phone buzzed, and she glanced at he caller ID. Pepper. "What's up?" Natasha asked absentmindedly, picking it up, lured to the case file.

"There's something that you need to see." her voice had a hint of tight excitement wavering, just like it did when she found something interesting.

"Be there in a sec." Natasha said, beckoning the blonde with an impatient hand.

"Where are we going?"he asked.

"The morgue." Natasha answered shortly, opening the white double doors as they approached the room.

An intrigued Pepper Potts and Betty Ross greeted them, and they watched Steve with interest. "Hi, I'm Steve Rodgers." He introduced himself , shaking the hands of both ladies. The pair giggled and gave their names. Pepper she would expect this from. She was a romantic at heart- a master at tucking her strawberry-blonde hair behind her ear irresistibly and doing her makeup to give her a seductive look. Plus, her boyfriend was _the_ Tony Stark. His ego was big enough for the two of them along with the entire city, and he was well known for his playboy nature almost as much as he was well known for his company.

But Betty? She was a shy, smart girl- pretty, but clueless. She was practically the female version of Bruce, their quiet tech forensics expert, which was probably why they befriended each other so quickly. Natasha was not quite ready for her to break out of her shell like this.

"Please don't tell me that you called us down so you two could fangirl over him." Natasha murmured into Betty's ear as Steve and Pepper came around the other side of the table where who she assumed to be Ben Parker lie on.

Betty shrugged and gave her a toothy grin. "Not completely why."

Pepper held up a petri dish for everyone the see, which had a dark red stain in the center looking suspiciously like blood. It probably was, actually- they were forensic scientists after all. "When we first got to the crime scene Betty and I thought that the body had been moved from where it was originally shot because of the lack of blood at the scene. But then we found out that there was a witness, leading us to find that the body was dead before being shot."

"You already knew this." Betty supplied.

I wanted to make sure there weren't any surprises, and I took a blood sample." Pepper continued. "There are traces of cyanide in his blood- more than enough to kill him. The cause of death was definitely the cyanide."

"So this is our mysterious COD." Natasha said. If he was poisoned before he was shot, that meant they had two murderers- though the second didn't actually kill him, robbery and attempted killing was enough of a reason to put someone in jail.

Steve crossed his arms, thinking. "Why cyanide? There are plenty of other poisons that are much harder to trace."

Pepper shrugged, setting the petri dish down. "I'm not a psychopathic killer, but I'm going to take a stab and say that the killer wanted Ben here to die quickly." she suggested. "Cyanide is one of the quickest poisons known."

Steve pursed his lips, wondering. "We also think that the crime scene wasn't where he was murdered- we found soot on the bottom of his shoes and on his hands." Betty added

Natasha thanked the two and began to walk out. "It was a pleasure meeting you both." Steve said as he followed her, and Natasha was sure she was going to hear a mouth load on the phone about him later that day from the stricken two.

"Was Ben's nephew, by any chance, completely convinced that his uncle was alive when he was shot?" Steve asked curiously, and Natasha huffed.

"Look, I know just about as much as you do on this case. I don't know." She said, not bothering to keep the impatience out of her voice.

Steve scowled and flipped through the file. "Peter's his name. We need to re-interview him."

As much as Natasha wished for him to be wrong, it was a legitimate idea. They could find his statement in the files, but obviously they needed to tell him things that might change the matter. Natasha quickly dialed a number into her phone. "Hi, can you bring in Peter Parker?"

* * *

Romanoff and Rodgers sat next to each other across from the teenage boy, chairs scrapping the floor in the otherwise stagnant room as they took their seats. The interrogation room was slightly unwelcoming, but it was the room with the recording equipment. Peter was younger than either had first thought- still a teenager, for sure. His chestnut hair was tousled and messy, and he tilted his head when he sat so that it was difficult to see his eyes.

Before either opened their mouths, Peter looked up and spoke, brown eyes were bitter and resentful. "Peter Parker, age 16. Nephew of Ben Parker, next of kin. Also witness to the crime. I saw my uncle get shot across the street, and didn't get a good look at the killer. My uncle wasn't acting weirdly at all that morning or afternoon, nothing out of the ordinary. Neither my aunt nor I recognize the sketch of the killer. I've been informed of my rights, and we're done here." He stated automatically, mechanically, getting up.

The two on the other side of the table stood up simultaneously, bumping into each other and exchanging annoyed looks. "Peter, we didn't call you here for you to re-give your statement." Steve said gently, shifting his gaze to look at Peter. "We don't need to put you through this over and over."

Peter looked back at him warily, scanning him slowly. He hesitated. "Then why am I here?"

"Sit," Natasha gestured her eyes to the chair, and the three sank down into their seats. "We've uncovered some information on your uncle's murder that we thought you should know."

He laughed humorlessly. "And what, the wife of the victim is less important than the nephew? What do you really need from me?"

Steve and Natasha avoided each other's eyes. Hesitantly, Steve looked up at Peter. "We were also wondering if you were sure that your uncle was alive when he was shot."

For a moment, silence blanketed the air, Steve and Natasha waiting expectantly for a reaction. Peter didn't have any- for a moment. "Are you really asking me this right now? I saw him _die._" ...Maybe breaking the news wasn't the best idea for the moment. Their killer didn't bother to hide the body after killing, meaning that for some reason he/she _wanted_ someone to find the body. And Betty said that the crime scene was not the actual murder scene- why would someone move the body to a spot where it was bound to be found out?

He paused, mulling something over. "Other cops took my statement last time. Where are they?" He asked suspiciously.

"Dead." Natasha said bluntly, Steve giving her a look for her insensibility.

"Dead?" Peter said, snapping out of his depressed state suddenly, slipping into a surprised one. "How? Why?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out." Steve told him, trying to make up for Natasha's lack of sensitivity with a soothing tone. "Was there anything that they might have found that they told you about?"

Peter shook his head, thinking. "I hadn't spoken to them since I gave my statement. I don't think my aunt did either." His expression was stuck in disbelief, and a slight hint of another emotion. Sadness? Anger? Guilt? Peter's lack of knowledge was disappointing- it was a long shot in the first place, but still a possibility.

"What exactly did they tell you happened to your uncle?" Steve asked uncertainly.

Peter shrugged dejectedly. "You don't exactly need to tell a witness what happened."

Natasha rustled- it wasn't right to keep the truth from him. Why would Rumlow and Rollins withhold that kind of information from the family of the vic? Unless...

"They were hiding something." Steve and Natasha said in unison, sending each other dirty looks after they realized what they had done.

"Do you two usually do this?" Peter asked, scrunching his nose. "Because-" He was silenced by a withering glare.

"We have to find out what Rumlow and Rollins knew and why they kept it to themselves." Steve said, turning to Natasha. "It might be the reason they were killed. She gave him a disdainful _no duh_ stare.

Peter sat up properly, looking at them both with interest. "I may be able to help you with that."

"I thought they didn't tell you anything." Natasha said.

"It's more like what _I_ told _them_." he explained. "By the looks of it, they didn't write it down. But I have a condition."

Natasha opened her mouth to say something, and in the short time Steve had known her, he had come to recognize the look in her eyes that she had now. It usually meant something disrespectful was going to come out of her mouth. "And what's that condition?" Steve said rapidly, cutting her off and ignoring the ignorant stare she gave him.

"I want to be involved in this. I want to figure this out with you. No more being left out of the loop." he said confidently, crossing his arms. "I can help you with this."

Absolutely not." Natasha blurted immediately. "We can't have a kid following us around everywhere- we have rules. And don't you have school?"

"I'm 16!" he objected. "Teenager. Young Adult. Anything but kid. And I can come before and after school, and during free period."

Natasha shook her head still. She was stubborn- she already got one unwanted person she was forced to work with today, and wasn't planning on getting another. "Not happening kid." She spotted Steve's expression out of the corner of her eye; it was calculating, conflicted. He was actually considering him?

"We need that intel." Steve said, more to Natasha than Peter.

"We're not going to _bargain _for it!" Natasha exclaimed. Were these two even serious right now?

"Sometimes you need to go to drastic measures as cops. You of all people should know that." Steve said coldly.

Natasha turned towards him. "I _do _know that, and better than you might think. But that doesn't mean it's ok to make stupid deals that might put him in danger!"

"Am I interrupting anything?" Peter piped up.

"We'll talk later." Natasha said firmly. "Mr. Parker, understand that the information you have could be crucial to finding your uncle's killer."

Peter shook hid head stubbornly. "No. I'm not letting this happen again."

Natasha tried to sigh all of her frustration off, moving on to a different subject. "Your uncle was dead before he was shot Peter."

He stared at her for a short time, blinking oddly. "You're telling me that when I saw him get shot, that wasn't what killed him?"

The pair nodded.

"How did he die then?" Peter asked, ringing his hands.

"Cyanide. It was a very quick death. He barely suffered." Steve said, and hesitated for a second. "Do you have any idea why they would find soot on his shoes Peter?"

He thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No idea."

Natasha slid out of her chair, gripping her case file. "Thank you for your time ."

He gave her a small, sad smile. "Peter. was my dad. was my uncle. I'm kind of done with the name. I think it's a taboo."

She felt a twinge of sympathy, and considered him. "Peter."

* * *

Jeez that was bad. I'm crossing my fingers it'll get better as I go. I tried a sort of omniscient third person, and apparently that is not the right one for me. So far, I think only Steve, Natasha, and Clint made an appearance, though Bruce and Tony were mentioned. I'm planning for Bruce and hopefully Tony to come in next chapter, and Thor in the third or so. And in my world, Coul never died, so he will forever and always be in my stories. Also, apologies this chapter was so long.

I've found in the past that I totally blow off due dates, so instead of repeatedly checking to see if I updated, just follow the story. Repeatedly telling me to update though is ok- motivation always helps. I think that's it.

Also, my beloved DC people; the next ACS update is coming within the week, I promise! I know it's waaaay overdo, and I'm really sorry, but by Friday, Chapter Four will be up!

Thank you all so much for reading, hope you liked, remember to follow, favorite, and review!


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